If you have read my blog post before, you know I have stated many times, we choose how we perceive things. This means, we decide where we place our focus, and we decide what we allow ourselves to be influenced by.
I believe in a world where it seems personal responsibility no longer applies it is very difficult for someone to accept their “life is choices” and they must live with the consequences of those choices.
To believe otherwise is simply a denial of a truth that applies to all of us.
It is certainly easier when we go down the wrong path or become involved in the wrong thing to blame society, culture, and our upbringing. Regardless, it still does not excuse us from facing the result of the choices we have made.
Growing up my mom would say, “boy, you make your bed and then you have to lay in it.”
This statement carries a tremendous amount of weight because it is a profound truth.
Once again, “life is choices” and we decide to use her analogy of how we make our bed and once we have made it, we are going to have to accept and deal with the fallout from the bed we have made for ourselves.
Even though I was taught this early on, I still went about my early years with reckless abandon. I made decisions that had lasting effects and took years in some cases to overcome. In fact, I did not fully know the effect of those choices for decades.
Today, I will say have become more thoughtful in the choices I make. My goal as with most people is self-preservation with minimal adverse effects. This has allowed me to lessen the likelihood of poor choices but certainly has not eliminated their possibility.
Unfortunately, as referred to above, this has not always been the case. There have been, and still are times, where the things I have done and the words I have said have done harm.
Decisions I have made, and still can make, if I am not careful, have not always benefited me or those directly affected by those decisions in the way I had hoped.
Even though this is true, I do not shy away from my role and responsibility in what I have chosen to say or do.
After reading this, if you still feel you are a victim of an oppressive system designed to keep you down or hold you back, I would like to ask you to consider your role in the situation you find yourself in today. As you do, ask yourself what your responsibility is in the life choices you have made thus far?
Finally, I would like to remind us all, “life is choices” and our opportunity to choose will always be our responsibility. Whether we choose to like it or not!
James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
